European Parliament election, 2014

[bryant.coleman]

As we all know, the Euro elections are just weeks away.

This time, there are a total of 751 seats, divided in to 28 member states. Germany will elect 96 MEPs, while France will have 74. The UK and Italy will elect 73 each.

The polling dates are from 22 and 25 May 2014.

Discuss the prospects of your favorite political parties.   

[railzand]

no

[Lethn]

Not if the UK has the planned EU referendum we won't

[bigtimespaghetti]

Not if the UK has the planned EU referendum we won't

Even if we do, do you really think the public has that much of a spine? I'm sure that people are somewhat sceptical but I really can't see anything happening even if we do hold a vote.

And on the tiny chance we do leave, will the vindictive political backlash of the EU cause us to go running back? It would surely put pressure on whichever party is currently in power.

I can't see any good situation occurring from this. There's too much short term pain from leaving.

And as to "favourite" political party. We all know it will be more of the same. I guess I enjoy the ones that make me smile and occassionally speak a nugget of truth.

[Cheesus]

no

legit

[bryant.coleman]

Not if the UK has the planned EU referendum we won't

Is such a referendum supported by any of the major political parties? And more importantly, is it legitimate?

[bryant.coleman]

Latest opinion polls from France:

UMP leading with 24% of the vote, FN close behind with 22%. The ruling PS will only get 19% of the vote.

http://www.ipsos.fr/ipsos-public-affairs/actualites/2014-03-30-francais-et-l-apres-municipales

[Sithara007]

Jobbik gets more than 20% of the vote in the Hungarian General Elections:

http://www.haaretz.com/news/world/1.584200

[bryant.coleman]

Jobbik gets more than 20% of the vote in the Hungarian General Elections:

20% of the votes can give them 4 to 5 seats in the EU parliament. With the FN in France expecting to win at least 15 seats, forming a block won't be much difficult.

[Kiki112]

Jobbik gets more than 20% of the vote in the Hungarian General Elections:

http://www.haaretz.com/news/world/1.584200

yeah, I'v heard of him, congratulations for uniting your right-winged parties

[Sithara007]

A potential game changer here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-eu-26890988

But now, with support for the far-right rising, four parties - France's National Front (FN), Austria's Freedom Party (FPOe), Belgium's Vlaams Belang and the Sweden Democrats - have joined up to form a European youth movement.

They can add more parties, such as Ataka of Bulgaria, BNP of UK, PVV of the Netherlands, NPD of Germany.etc

[EasySam]

More nationalistic parties in euro parlament...

EU might get closer to USA at this point in election system.

[bryant.coleman]

EU might get closer to USA at this point in election system.

There are no nationalist parties in the US Senate. Even in the house there is no nationalist representation. The US is having a two-party system, unlike the multi-party system of the EU.

[IIOII]

In Germany there was a recent judgement of the constitutional court which eliminated the former treshhold for seats for European elections (first 5% then 3%). So in Germany any party which reaches approx. 1% of votes will get a seat. This will strengthen all small parties.

I expect that AfD (eurosceptic), NPD (far-right), Piratenpartei (pirate party, in Germany now much more left-wing than libertarian) will get seats for the first time.

[bryant.coleman]

I expect that AfD (eurosceptic), NPD (far-right), Piratenpartei (pirate party, in Germany now much more left-wing than libertarian) will get seats for the first time.

AfD and PP might get seats. But the NPD got only 0.9% of the vote in 2004. They didn't participated in 2009. Die Republikaner might get one seat, as they got 1.3% of the votes last time.

[IIOII]

I expect that AfD (eurosceptic), NPD (far-right), Piratenpartei (pirate party, in Germany now much more left-wing than libertarian) will get seats for the first time.

AfD and PP might get seats. But the NPD got only 0.9% of the vote in 2004. They didn't participated in 2009. Die Republikaner might get one seat, as they got 1.3% of the votes last time.

Republikaner are in a constant decline since several elections and will most likely loose votes to AfD, so I think it is less likely they will get votes above 1% than the NPD, which is much more radical and therefore more likely to keep its core voters. But I wouldn't rule it out.

It will be interesting to see if the smallest parties as a whole improve their results because the threshold no longer exists and voters will be more likely to vote for their real preference than just strategically out of fear the vote might not count in the end (party does not get past the threshold).

[FalconFly]

Well, another chance to get rid of the unelected Goldman Sachs sock puppets trying to lead the EU into the abyss and form a EuSSR...

But considering how incredibly apathetic and uninformed the general public is - who knows. Most are busy watching disinfo channels presented as "news" and other than that bread & games TV shows.
I don't have high hopes for getting that continent back on a healthy track but it's always worth a shot trying.

[bryant.coleman]

But considering how incredibly apathetic and uninformed the general public is - who knows. Most are busy watching disinfo channels presented as "news" and other than that bread & games TV shows.

The anti-banker parties might increase their representation. But I don't think that they will gather more than 5-10% of the total seats. Still, it will be some sort of a victory.

[sana8410]

European Parliament will be held in all member states of the European Union (EU). It will be the 8th Europe-wide election to the European Parliament.

[bryant.coleman]

Euro elections: Searching for President Nemo

http://rt.com/op-edge/155564-euro-elections-candidate-ridiculous

The European Parliament is at the most productive part of its four-year cycle. Instead of adding more stifling rules, politicians are out seeking re-election to the ridiculous Brussels/Strasbourg gravy train. Thus Europeans are spared the indignity of more useless micromanaging regulation destroying employment and the economy for at least two months every four years.